Red Power movement

The phrase "Red Power", attributed to the author Vine Deloria, Jr., commonly expressed a growing sense of pan-Indian identity in the late 1960s among American Indians in the United States.

The Red Power movement was one of the many Civil Rights Movements which occurred in the United States from 1950s-1970s (also known as the Civil Rights Era). The Red Power Movement, also known as the American Indian Movement (AIM), was dedicated to getting the Federal Government of the United States to return land that was previously owned by the Native Americans. In 1969 Native Americans tried to regain Alcatraz Island which was once a part of their native territory.

The major catalyst of Red Power was the occupation of the deserted federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay on November 20, 1969. A group of 89 Indians, mostly college students who identified themselves as "Indians of All Tribes", claimed the island according to the terms of an 1868 US treaty with the Sioux, which gave Indians rights to unused federal property on Indian land. The group demanded federal funds for a multifaceted cultural and educational center. They were visited by many activists and inspired other events. For instance, the following year on Thanksgiving 1970, the American Indian Movement (AIM) led their first protest: painting Plymouth Rock red and occupying the Mayflower II in Boston. For the next year and a half at Alcatraz, a force averaging around 100, and a stream of visitors from numerous tribes, celebrated the occupation of the island. Although the protesters ultimately failed to achieve their specific goals, they helped catalyze the Indian community. With the occupation of Alcatraz, a participant said, "we got back our worth, our pride, our dignity, our humanity."